Nifty breaks nine day winning streak; ends lower

Benchmark indices ended the day lower, with the Nifty breaking a nine day winning streak to end the day lower by 23 points, while the Sensex ended the day lower by 78 points at 24,298 points.

Big bets shifted from index to mid cap stocks as was the trend in the last few days. Select stocks from the infra, real estate and banking space continued their breathtaking rally. IFCI gained a staggering 11 per cent in trade, while Torrent Power was up 13 per cent and Indiabulls Power was up 10 per cent.

Infra stocks continued their run with Gammon Infrastructure projects up 4 per cent and IRB Infra ending the day up 1 per cent.

PSU banking stocks which had rallied in the last few trading sessions ended the day mixed with Canara Bank and State Bank of India dropping, while IDBI Bank and Oriental Bank gained ground.

Private sector banking stocks like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank ended the day marginally lower. Punj Lloyd lost heavy ground in trade after the company's performance did not match expectations and losses widened.